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Human Resource Development

Governance
Strategy
Risk Management
Indicators and Goals

Governance

Human Resource Development System

With a view to realizing our Human Resources (HR) Policy, we are rapidly responding to change and accelerating the establishment of systems that enable the timely assignment of personnel to appropriate positions.

Human Resources for Driving Transformation

We are reorganizing the roles of the People and Culture Division, which spearheads the human resource strategies that support business strategies. We have prepared a human resource model and defined the roles and responsibilities of each human resource business partner, shared service, and center of excellence. The center of excellence plays a leading role in formulating human resource strategies and establishing optimal programs, systems, and policies, and works with human resource business partners to implement measures for human resource development and training throughout the Company.

Training System for Heightening Expertise

  • We established the Learning and Development Department (L&D Department) in the People and Culture Division.
    We established the L&D Department by consolidating the human resource development functions that were previously distributed throughout NEC. This department plans and designs shared policies and measures for human resource development for all job types, with the aim of optimizing and enhancing groupwide human resource development.
  • Establishment of job-specific human resource development committees
    We have established cross-organizational job-specific human resource development committees to strengthen specialized skills by job type and to enhance human resource development throughout the NEC Group. NEC officers representing each job type chair respective committees, and executives and experts selected from each organization work with their human resources divisions to accelerate the development of the professional talent required for business growth.

Human Resource Foundations for One NEC

To realize the HR Policy, the NEC Group must unify its human resource foundations in-house, including those in and outside Japan. Since 2019, the Company has been conducting performance development at NEC Group companies as well as at NEC Corporation, thereby enabling it to unify its human resource evaluations. Performance development encourages growth and behavioral change. It provides feedback that uses a system of nine blocks based on performance and the Code of Values, goal management, and one-on-one meetings between supervisors and their team members.

Strategy

Human Resource Development Policy

Viewing people as its greatest management resource, NEC has been investing in them by transforming systems and improving environments in ways that maximize the capabilities of the Company’s personnel and organization.

HR Policy “NEC, for Those Who Seek Challenge”

To be an employer of choice that is always the preferred option not only of markets and customers but also of workers, we have been reforming our workplace environment and culture. The aim of these efforts is to ensure that each employee has a range of opportunities to take on challenges and grow, and receives fair evaluations. Moreover, we are creating an atmosphere in which proactive employees can shine. The aforementioned reform initiatives are based on our Human Resources (HR) Policy “NEC, for Those Who Seek Challenge,” established in 2019.

HR Policy “NEC, for Those Who Seek Challenge”zoomLarger view

Target Employee Engagement Score

Through these reform efforts, we hope to raise the employee engagement score to 50%1 by fiscal 2026.

  • 1.
    According to a survey by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm. A score of 50% roughly corresponds to the global top 25th percentile, Tier 1 level. 

Risk Management (Including Opportunity Generation)

Human Resource Development Programs

Talent Development (Human Resource Development Programs and Training)

Next-Generation Leadership Development

Human resource discovery

  • We have clarified the target profiles of next-generation leaders as well as the capabilities they are likely to need and compiled a list of approximately 1,300 promising personnel from our operations worldwide.
  • We have identified 150 particularly promising people (of whom 24% are women) as the Top of the Top, and are implementing individualized development plans for each of them.
  • We hold Talent Talks, in which corporate officers discuss promising personnel, and People & Organization Discussions, which focus on reflecting business strategy in organizational design and personnel assignment.
  • We will roll out the above initiatives globally—in Japan and at all seven major consolidated subsidiaries outside Japan.

Training program for the next generation of leaders

  • We have created and implemented a leadership development program for the next generation of leaders with emphasis on the Top of the Top.
  • The program includes feedback from corporate officers. In fiscal 2024, 21 talented people from NEC Corporation and Group companies participated in Beginning Leadership Journey.

Global human resource development

  • We conduct global leadership programs to ensure that we assign the most globally competent personnel to leadership positions.
  • 18 talented people from around the world, including Japan, participated in the Rising Leader Program.
  • We send young talent to the Columbia University Business School Visiting Scholars program and workshops outside Japan to create social value.

Identifying, assessing and developing young talent

  • We assessed the potential of 150 young employees selected from the talent pool.
  • We appoint change facilitators from top talent in alignment with cultural measures, and appoint young employees to companywide management audit projects.

Roundtable with Company officers

  • Held a roundtable discussion between Company officers and 150 promising Top of the Top personnel. Officers are in direct contact with Top of the Top personnel across divisions and are involved in their training.

Professional Human Resource Development through Job-specific Human Resource Development Committees

We have established job-specific human resource development committees in six areas: marketing; sales and business design; services, SE and consulting; technology development; SCM; and research and development. In fiscal 2024, in preparation for the introduction of our job-specific personnel system, business leaders took responsibility in their areas for finalizing job descriptions, setting personnel requirements, and restructuring the human resource development framework to enhance the capabilities of personnel to meet those requirements. We also sent out messages and held discussion sessions for all employees about expectations for their growth and taking on challenges.

Enhancing the Management Skills of People Managers

In anticipation of the introduction of job-specific human resource management in April 2024, we conducted training for all of the Company’s management positions (approximately 2,500 people). In order to make the most of the personnel system, the people responsible for front-line business management need to deepen their understanding of the purpose of the system and how to use it. They also need to enhance their skill in providing appropriate evaluations and feedback. In fiscal 2024, we therefore implemented a training program to drive ongoing management improvement. The program included briefings for managers on the introduction of the system for realizing an optimal human resource portfolio based on business strategies and for imparting the skills to build a highly motivated professional team. Approximately 300 new managers have taken part in the program, which focuses on the acquisition of performance management skills and identifying their strengths and areas for improvement through multifaceted feedback.

Development of Personnel Conversant with DX

NEC has established a common DX education framework for NEC Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries in Japan, and has implemented a training program for basic DX literacy and specialized DX personnel that is aligned with the definition, requirements, and development goals for human resources involved with DX. We aim to achieve the goals of Mid-term Management Plan 2025 by continuing to enhance measures to shift and improve skill sets through this training program based on a systematic digital human resource development promotion system linked to the growth of the DX business. As of March 31, 2024, qualified DX personnel totaled 10,376. In addition, a total of 42,820 people at NEC Corporation and 16 consolidated subsidiaries in Japan had participated in basic DX literacy training and a total of 49,737 people had participated in specialized training for DX personnel.

As a result of these key measures, management-related indicators improved by approximately 5 points, and career and self-development indicators improved by approximately 7 points in the engagement survey conducted in fiscal 2024.

Training Framework

The picture of Training Framework

Developing Talent in Key Focus Areas

NEC is actively engaged in training and acquiring human resources who can use its core technologies to create value.

Training and Acquiring Top Researchers / Diversity

  • Introduced a job-specific personnel system to flexibly set compensation for researchers with advanced expertise.
  • Established the NEC R&D Doctor’s Pass program for industry-academia collaboration to support the careers and finances of doctoral students, with the aim of enhancing hiring of personnel with PhDs.
  • Boosted hiring of researchers in AI, data science, sensing, biometrics, networks, and security fields (Training and acquisition of research personnel who can link core technologies to social value)
  • Trained project leaders and technological architects utilizing personnel exchanges between business divisions and research divisions
  • Expanded business developer training to include researchers
  • Developed global human resources in cooperation with locations outside Japan (40% of NEC Group employees are global human resources)
    - Actively recruited top talent from research laboratories outside Japan
    - Recruited from leading universities outside Japan, such as the Indian Institute of Technology

Cultivation of Human Resources to Generate New Business

  • Established a human resource development system for business development professionals (organization of skills and competencies for business development professionals, creation of practical training system)
  • Increased experts in specific domains (approximately 40% have business promotion experience at external companies)
  • Developed business lead management personnel (promoted new joint ventures and seconding of personnel to start-ups)

Intellectual Property Specialists

  • Stepped up global hiring of attorneys and patent attorneys
  • Established and strengthened the Litigation and Counsel Department (established in fiscal 2023)

Development of Information Security Professionals

Developing specialists who implement security by design

  • NEC has been promoting a “security by design” (SBD) concept whereby security is taken into consideration for integration of products, systems, and services from the planning and design stages.
  • Since fiscal 2020, we have been fostering personnel to assist the security managers2 of business divisions and implement SBD.
  • In fiscal 2022, we introduced a new course for sales personnel that enables participants to acquire the skills necessary to make appropriate security proposals, including incident case studies and security offerings.
  • 2.
    Individuals responsible for providing information, project support, and incident response related to cybersecurity for each business division

Training in practical security measures

  • We use a virtual environment that simulates an e-commerce website, thereby providing a location where system engineers can practice taking practical security measures and acquiring skills that increase the robustness of systems at their construction stage.
  • In fiscal 2021, we made this virtual environment available remotely, which allowed our engineers to strengthen the security technologies that underpin our clients’ systems even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developing highly skilled cybersecurity personnel

  • In fiscal 2021, we launched the NEC Cybersecurity Analyst Program, which is a more practical version of the NEC Chief Information Security Officer Aide Training Program.
  • Personnel well versed in cybersecurity technologies undergo an intensive six-month program to acquire the technical skills needed to provide advanced cybersecurity services, such as the work performed by the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSRT) and risk hunting.

Widening our pool of cybersecurity human resources

  • To raise the overall level of security skills across the NEC Group, we offer web-based training on the basic cybersecurity knowledge required by sales personnel and system engineers.
  • Since fiscal 2016, NEC has held the NEC Security Skill Challenge, an in-house event for all employees aimed at building and reinforcing security skills that employees can use in their work. Through fiscal 2024, a total of over 8,100 employees have participated voluntarily in this event.
  • We strongly encourage employees to acquire public security qualifications, such as the internationally recognized Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) qualification and the Registered Information Security Specialist national qualification. More than 450 of our employees had these qualifications as of March 31, 2024.

Programs for Upgrading Employee Skills and Transition Assistance Programs

NEC Life Career, Ltd.: Supporting Career Ownership among Employees

To enable each employee to grow and be happy by pursuing a career in line with their values, NEC provides an environment where employees can think about and act on career plans. We have put in place systems that support and encourage the efforts of employees to take the initiative in improving their skills and in pursuing challenging professional roles. Specifically, in fiscal 2021 we renewed and reorganized a set of training programs and systems aimed at self-starting career development and relaunched our career training curriculum under the name Career Design Workshop. Moreover, with the aim of strengthening our ability to support employees’ career ownership, in 2020 we established NEC Life Career, Ltd.

Stronger Support for Employees’ Independent Career Development

As part of its Human Resources Policy, “NEC, for Those Who Seek Challenge,” NEC established the Career Design Workshop to help employees take greater ownership of and realize their career plans. The workshop is spearheaded by NEC Life Career, Ltd. (established in October 2020), and was conducted for 5,500 employees ranging from their 20s to their 50s. We also held individual career consultations with over 3,000 employees who applied for the service.

In addition, when employees express interest in the opportunity to try taking on new types of work inside or outside the Group, we provide support to help them get settled and achieve success. As businesses and strategies change and organization functions change accordingly, we work vigorously to provide reskilling programs to organizations that require new functions, in addition to initiatives to increase organizational strength.

Self-directed Career Development through “NEC Growth Careers” (Employee and Position Matching) System

We are strengthening our internal job posting system to provide an environment and opportunities for all employees to map out their careers, take on new challenges, and grow to become who they want to be. Since the update of the previous system in fiscal 2020, there has been a total of approximately 2,000 applicants and over 1,000 have successfully transitioned to new positions with new career challenges. Since fiscal 2023, divisions that are recruiting have regularly held NGC Meetups, which are live-streamed internal programs that showcase the appeal of particular organizations and the positions they are recruiting for, as well as the people who work there.
We aim to provide a system for broadly presenting career opportunities within NEC to employees and encouraging proactive career development.

Introduction of NEC’s Proprietary AI-enabled Recommendation Service

In the past, our system for matching employees and positions entailed employees reading job descriptions of published vacancies and then applying for positions that interested them. Alternatively, the personnel manager of a department with a vacancy would search published resumes and contact personnel who met the position’s requirements. In fiscal 2021, NEC began using its AI capabilities to generate job candidate recommendations.
Specifically, we use machine learning to match the content of resumes with that of published vacancies. In fiscal 2024, we employed new research technologies to enhance the AI-enabled recommendation function, making it even easier for employees to use. As well as giving employees more opportunities to take on challenges and grow and discover potential they did not know they had, the new service helps the personnel managers of departments with vacant positions efficiently select, secure, and assign the most suitable personnel.

Indicators and Goals

Medium- to Long-term Goals, Priority Activities and Progress, Achievements, and Issues

Medium- to Long-term Goals and Priority Activities

(Scope: NEC Corporation unless otherwise specified) Period: April 2021 to March 2026

  1. Cultivate leadership and strengthen management capabilities in order to sustain a successful presence in the global market
  2. Professional development to foster a successful business transformation

FY2024 Goals, Progress, Achievements and Issues, and FY2025 Goals

FY2024 Goals

  1. Cultivate leadership and strengthen management capabilities in order to sustain a successful presence in the global market
    • Identify even more global and young talent, and accelerate their development
    • Update training programs for the talent pool and promote higher-paced and more advanced training
    • Enhance training centered on challenging cross-organization assignments
  2. Professional development to foster a successful business transformation
    • Promote more closely linked to businesses through job-specific human resource development committees
    • Accelerate development of human resources involved with DX, a companywide priority measure across job categories

Progress, Achievements and Issues

  1. Cultivated leadership and strengthened management capabilities in order to sustain a successful presence in the global market
    • Implemented a development plan, selecting young talent and incorporating objective indicators through external assessments. Identifying global talent remains an issue.
    • Reviewed the entire program framework, enhanced the program for young people to address earlier development, and expanded the scope to include Group companies
    • Focusing on the Top of the Top, identified the necessary experience for management members and appointed qualified individuals to strategically important positions across the NEC Group
  2. Professional development to foster a successful business transformation
    • Job-specific human resource development
      - Strengthened the linkage between the personnel system and human resource development (updated job roles and the corresponding human resource requirements, clarified the skills required to perform the jobs, and updated and publicized a human resource development system for enhancing those skills)
    • Expanded and deployed content, and developed human resources involved with DX
      - 42,820 people completed basic DX literacy training; 49,737 people completed specialized DX human resource training
      - Motivated employees to acquire skills by increasing the visibility of human resources involved with DX through Open Badge awards and by announcing the names of recipients in-house

FY2025 Goals

  1. Cultivate leadership and strengthen management capabilities in order to sustain a successful presence in the global market
    • Identify even more global and young talent, and accelerate their development
    • Establish and implement a common global talent development program framework
    • Enhance training centered on challenging cross-organization assignments
      - More strategic and systematic planning and implementation based on activities up to 2023
  2. Professional development to foster a successful business transformation
    • Promote human resource development more closely linked to businesses through job-specific human resource development committees
    • Accelerate development of human resources involved with DX, a companywide priority measure across job categories

Indicators for Human Resource Development

Investing in Human Resource Development

Number of training days per employee (including temporary employees) and training cost are as follows.

Measuring the Effects of Human Resource Development

Human capital return on investment is as follows.

Initiative Outcomes Revealed by the One NEC Survey

Our annual One NEC Survey of employees of NEC Corporation and consolidated Group subsidiaries showed a two-point increase in the rate of positive responses to questions regarding career and self-development, compared with fiscal 2022.